JP2959134B2 - Page printer device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a manual sheet feeding mechanism, and more particularly to a page printer using an electrophotographic system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A page printer using an electrophotographic method such as an LED printer or an LCS printer has a cassette for printing on paper not loaded on a paper cassette or special paper which cannot be loaded on a paper cassette. A so-called manual paper feed mechanism is provided in addition to the paper feed mechanism. This manual paper feed mechanism inserts paper from a manual paper feed port provided on the side of the page printer, and feeds the paper to a transfer unit by a manual paper feed roll.

In the manual paper feed mechanism described above,
There is a device that drives the manual feed roll by connecting it to a motor via a clutch mechanism.However, to reduce the cost of the device, a device that directly transmits the rotation of the motor to the feed roll without using a clutch mechanism is used. Many are used.

[0004]

However, in the page printer apparatus for directly transmitting the rotation of the motor to the manual paper feed roll as described above, the manual paper feed roll is always rotating while the apparatus is being driven. If paper is fed by mistake during paper feeding (during operation of the cassette paper feeding mechanism), the manually fed paper is also fed to the transfer unit, causing paper jam.

In this case, it is conceivable to provide a manual sheet feeder with a device such as a shutter for preventing manual sheet feeding. However, this does not make sense in saving the clutch mechanism for cost reduction.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a page printer having a manual paper feed mechanism which can prevent paper jam even if a manual paper is inserted by mistake. And

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image data generating section for generating image data based on print information supplied from a host device, and an image data generating section for generating image data based on image data output from the image data generating section. the image forming unit or Rannahli for performing image formation processing, the image forming unit in a page printer equipped with the manual sheet feeding mechanism, the image data generating unit one pre <br/> Symbol print information input from the host apparatus a receiving buffer for time accumulate storage, a reception signal print information to the reception buffer is stored
Receiving signal output means for outputting , image data from the print information in the receiving buffer memory, and when a predetermined amount of image data is stored in the memory, the image forming unit
Start signal output means for outputting a start signal indicating that the image data transfer preparation is completed , wherein the image forming unit is configured to output the start signal until at least the fed sheet is discharged out of the apparatus.
Drive motor that keeps running and front without drive force interrupter
Manual paper to which the driving force from the drive motor is directly transmitted
Feeding means, manual paper detection means for detecting insertion of manual paper, and an image carrier on which an image is formed by conveying the paper.
And a waiting means temporarily stopping to synchronize, when the manual feed paper detecting means detects the manual paper feed, before
If there is an output of the reception signal or the start signal, the drive mode
Data in the operating state, and the standby means operates.
The image forming process is performed while the reception signal and the
If there is no start signal output, the drive motor is running
If there is, stop the paper by the waiting means and
Automatically eject standby paper as time continues for the same time
If the drive motor is not operating, the manual feed paper
Warning the removal , and manual feed
A manual paper feed path and cassette for conveying paper to the image
Cassette that transports the paper stored in the
And a paper feed transport path, wherein both transport paths are the image transfer section.
Paper feeder at the page printer that joins
The machine remains in operation until the paper inside the machine is discharged out of the machine.
A manual paper feeding means for feeding the manual paper interlocked with a driving source; a manual paper detection means for detecting insertion of the manual paper; and a manual paper when the manual paper detection means detects the manual paper. When it is fed as it is,
A determining means for determining whether or not the sheet overlaps the passing sheet discharged from the cassette sheet feeding mechanism downstream of the confluence of the two transport paths; and displaying a warning when the determining means predicts the overlapping of the two sheets, does not overlap with the predicted characterized in that it comprises a sheet control means for feeding it feed manual feed paper.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a partial configuration of the page printer of this embodiment. In FIG. 1, the page printer has a so-called cassette paper feed mechanism 2 for feeding paper P stacked in a paper feed cassette 1 and a manual paper feed mechanism 3 for feeding manually fed paper P '. The manual paper feed mechanism 3 includes a manual paper feed table 4, a manual paper feed port 5, a manual paper sensor 6, a manual paper feed roll 7, and a manual paper feed guide plate 8. The cassette paper feed mechanism 2 includes a paper feed cassette 1, a paper feed roller 9, a sabaki member 10, and a turn guide 11. Further, the respective paper conveyance paths (guide plate 8 and turn guide 11) of the cassette paper feeding mechanism 2 and the manual paper feeding mechanism 3 join at the position of the standby sensor 12, and the cassette paper feeding mechanism 2 and the manual paper feeding mechanism 3 are joined together. The sheet P or P ′ fed from the mechanism 3 is fed to the transfer unit 15 via the standby roll 13 and the guide plate 14. The transfer unit 15 is located between the photoconductor drum 16 and the transfer device 17, and the toner image formed on the peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum 16 in the transfer unit 15 is transferred to the paper P or P '.

The manual paper feed table 4 is provided on the side of the apparatus main body, and has, for example, a foldable structure. When the manual paper feed table 4 is not used, it is folded on the side of the apparatus main body. The manual paper sensor 6 includes an optical sensor including an LED 6a and a phototransistor 6b. Also,
The standby sensor 12 is also an LED 12 like the manual paper sensor 6.
a and a photo sensor 12b. The manual paper sensor 6 and the standby sensor 12 are connected to a printer control circuit 28 described later, and a detection signal is output from each of the sensors 6 and 12 to the printer control circuit 28. Further, the manual paper feed roll 7 is directly connected to the motor M, and has a configuration without a clutch. Therefore, the manual paper feed roll 7 is configured to always rotate when the motor M rotates. However, the nipping force of the manual feed roll 7 on the paper P 'is relatively weak, and when the leading end of the paper P' comes into contact with the stopped standby roll 13 and the conveyance is stopped, the manual feed roll 7 is applied to the paper P '. The gripping force is such that it slides with respect to the sheet P and can be easily pulled out when the operator pulls the rear part of the sheet P ′. In addition, the manual feed slot 5
The distance L between the sheet and the standby roll 13 is set to be shorter than the shortest sheet length of the sheets P 'used in this embodiment. Therefore, when the manually inserted paper P 'is in contact with the standby roll 13, the rear end of the paper P' is always visible outside the manual paper feed port 5.

On the other hand, the sheet cassette 1 is loaded with the sheets P on a low plate 1b which is urged upward by a push-up spring 1a, and the sheet feeding roller 9 is driven to rotate, whereby the separating member 1 is rotated.
In this configuration, the sheets P are unloaded one by one from the sheet feeding cassette 1 between 0 and 0. The paper feed roll 9 is connected to a motor M via a paper feed clutch 9 ', and the paper feed clutch 9' is controlled in accordance with a drive control signal output from a printer control circuit 28 described later. The rotation / non-rotation of the paper feed roll 9 is controlled. Further, the above-mentioned standby roll 13 is also similar to the paper feed roll 9 in that the standby clutch 1
3 ', which is connected to the motor M, and rotates / rotates according to a drive control signal output from a printer control circuit 28 described later.
Non-rotation control is performed.

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram of a page printer having the above-described mechanism configuration, which comprises an interface controller 18 and a printer controller 19. In the figure, an interface controller 18 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 20, a ROM 21,
AM22, DMA controller 23, operation / display unit 2
4, a reception buffer 25, an image data generator 26, and a frame memory 27. Printer controller 19
Comprises a printer control circuit 28 and an optical writing head 29 (not shown in FIG. 1) located above the photosensitive drum 16.

A host computer 31, which is a host device of the page printer, includes a centro interface 32.
Through the interface controller 18. The host computer 31 outputs print information such as a character code and print control data to the interface controller 18. The CPU 20 controls the entire page printer of the present embodiment in accordance with the system program stored in the ROM 21. For example, the CPU 20 temporarily stores the print information output from the host computer 31 in the reception buffer 25 as described above. Then, a process for sequentially reading the print information stored in the reception buffer 25 and analyzing the command is executed.

The image data generator 26 has dot pattern data corresponding to the character code, and outputs the dot pattern data corresponding to the input character code to the frame memory 27. The frame memory 27 has a memory area for print data (dot pattern data) for one page of paper, and stores data output from the image data generator 26 described above. The operation / display unit 24 includes various operation keys of the page printer of the present embodiment, an LED display device for displaying an alarm described later, and the like.

The RAM 21 has an area for storing various data generated during the control processing of the CPU 20, and a C-S
It has an area for storing TATUS data. This C-
STATUS data is interface controller 1
8, which is used for transmitting information between the printer control circuit 28 and a printer control circuit 28, which will be described later. The information includes a command, information indicating the presence or absence of print information in the reception buffer 25 described later, size information of the sheet P, and the like.

On the other hand, the video interface 33 comprises the interface controller 18 and the printer control circuit 28.
It performs input / output control of signals between them, control of outputting dot pattern data output from the frame memory 27 to the optical writing head 29, and the like.

The printer control circuit 28 outputs drive signals to the above-described paper feed clutch 9 'and standby clutch 13', and also controls the interface controller 18 (CPU 20).
A drive signal is output to each unit load based on a control signal such as a print start signal output from the printer.

[0017] As described above, the manual sheet sensor 6 and the standby sensor 12 are connected to the printer control circuit 28, and a detection signal of the sheet P is output from each of these sensors. For example, a signal indicating that the sheet P ′ has been manually inserted is output from the manual sheet sensor 6, and a signal indicating that the sheet P or P ′ has reached the position of the standby sensor 12 is output from the standby sensor 12. . The printer control circuit 28 is connected to sensors and switches such as a paper ejection sensor (not shown) in addition to the above-described sensors, and outputs various detection signals to the printer control circuit 28.

The motor M is also controlled to rotate / non-rotate based on the drive control signal of the printer control circuit 28. Next, before describing the sheet feeding control of the page printer of the present embodiment, a process of generating dot pattern data in the frame memory 27 will be briefly described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG.

As described above, when print information is output from the host computer 31 to the interface controller 18 via the centro interface 32, the print information is stored in the reception buffer 25 under the control of the CPU 20 as described above. Then, the CPU 20 determines whether there is print information in the reception buffer 25 (step (hereinafter, referred to as ST) 1), and when there is print information (ST1).
Is Y (yes)) A flag indicating that print information is present is set to C-ST.
The print data is output to the printer control circuit 28 along with the ATUS data, and thereafter the print information is read from the reception buffer 25 and the data is analyzed (ST2 to ST5). While print information is not stored in the reception buffer 25 (S
If T1 is N (No), a flag indicating the presence of print information is reset to C-STATUS data and output to the printer control circuit 28 (ST6). Note that V shown in FIG.
-I / F is CS via video interface 33
This means that TATUS data is transferred. The printer control circuit 28 can know the state of the page printer device from the C-STATUS data.

On the other hand, in the above-described analysis processing (ST5), for example, if the data read by the CPU 20 is a character code, the dot pattern data corresponding to the character code is read from the image data generator 26 and stored in the frame memory 27. It is stored in a predetermined area (ST7). If the read print information is a command, a process corresponding to the command is executed (ST8). That is, if the read command is, for example, an instruction command for rotating or enlarging a character, processing corresponding to the command is performed. When the read data is a page break code, a start signal is output to the printer control circuit 28 on the assumption that data for one page has been written to the frame memory 27 (ST
9). That is, this processing is a command output when the supply of the print data for one page in the reception buffer 6 is completed.
It is determined that the dot pattern data for one page has been stored in the printer, and the above-described start signal is output.

Thereafter, it waits for the printer control circuit 28 to output the FD ready signal. The FD ready signal is sent from the printer control circuit 28 to the CP when a predetermined time elapses after the standby sensor 12 detects the paper P or P ′ fed from the cassette paper feed mechanism 2 or the manual paper feed mechanism 3.
This is a signal output to U20. When this signal is output (Y in ST10), the sheet P or P 'is
3 and the start (STAR)
T) The signal is reset, and the transfer processing is started after the transfer execution condition is set in the DMA controller 23. At the same time, a restart (RESTART) signal is output to the printer control circuit 28 (ST11, ST12).
Therefore, the dot pattern data in the frame memory 27 is then output to the optical writing head 29 under the control of the DMA controller 23. The output relationship between the FD ready signal and the restart signal will be described in detail in the following description of the flowchart of FIG.

Next, the paper feeding operation of the paper P fed by the cassette paper feeding mechanism 2 will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 4 and a time chart shown in FIG.
This process is performed based on the output of the start signal shown in FIG. 3, and the manual insertion periods T1 to T4 shown in FIG. 5 will be described later. First, when the input of the start signal is determined (step (hereinafter referred to as STP)
1), the printer control circuit 28 determines whether the mode is the cassette paper feed mode or the manual paper feed mode (STP2). This determination is made according to the above-described C-STATUS data. If the manual feed mode is specified in the C-STATUS data according to the operator's specification (STP2 is Y), this determination is performed.
When the manual paper sensor 6 detects the passage of the paper P ', the process proceeds to the flowchart of FIG. 5 described later (Y in STP3). However, since the cassette sheet feeding mode is described here (STP2 is N), the process (STP4) and thereafter are executed. That is, the printer control circuit 28 drives the motor M, turns on the paper feed clutch 9 ', rotates the paper feed roll 9, and carries out the paper P from the paper feed cassette 1 (S
TP4, STP5). The sheet P conveyed out of the sheet cassette 1 in this way is fed along the turn guide 11 and turns on the standby sensor 12 (Y in STP6). Thereafter, the sheet P is further fed, and after waiting for a period of time that the sheet P abuts on the standby roll 13 and slightly bends (time t1 shown in FIG. 5), the sheet feeding clutch 9 'is turned off, the rotation of the sheet feeding roll 9 is stopped, and the sheet P
Is temporarily stopped (ST7, ST8). Here, the printer control circuit 28 sends the aforementioned FD ready signal to the CPU 20.
And waits for a restart signal output from the CPU 20 (ST9, ST10). Then, as described above,
U20 sets execution conditions for data transfer to the DMA controller 23, and outputs a restart signal to the printer control circuit 28 (STP10 is Y).

When the restart signal is output, the printer control circuit 28 stops outputting the FD ready signal, turns on the standby clutch 13 ', rotates the standby roll 13, and re-feeds the paper P (STP11, STP12). ). At this time, the passage length timer is turned on (STP13). In this passage length timer, a timer time calculated from data of the size of the paper P determined by a paper cassette determination mechanism (not shown) is set. A specific example of the timer time will be described later.

Thereafter, the optical writing head 29 forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 16 according to the dot pattern data output from the frame memory 27 to the optical writing head 29, and this electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing device (not shown). To form a toner image. During this time, the sheet P is fed to the transfer unit 15, and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 16 is transferred to the sheet P by corona discharge of the transfer unit 17 (STP14). The paper P is further fed, and when the trailing edge of the paper P has passed the standby sensor 6 (STP15), the printer control circuit 28 knows this from the detection signal from the standby sensor 6, and thereafter, the trailing edge of the paper P (See FIG. 5)
Then, the passage length timer is reset, the standby clutch 13 'is turned off, and the rotation of the standby roll 13 is stopped (STP17, STP18).

If a further continuous printing process is required thereafter, the same process as described above is executed (ST1 to ST1).
8) When all the necessary printing processes on the paper P are completed, the printer control circuit 28 stops driving the motor M after waiting for a predetermined time (time t3 shown in FIG. 5) (Y in ST19, ST20).

Next, the processing when the sheet P 'is manually inserted during the above-described cassette sheet feeding operation will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The period T1 shown in FIG.
.About.T4 indicate the position of the leading end of the sheet P carried out of the sheet cassette 1 in the cassette sheet feeding mechanism 2. FIG. 1 shows corresponding positions T1 'to T4'. Hereinafter, the cases will be described separately.

First, the paper P 'is manually fed into the manual paper feed table 4 during the period T1 shown in FIG. At this time, since the motor M has not been driven yet (step (hereinafter referred to as S) 1 is N), the manual paper feed roll 7 is not rotating and the paper P in the paper feed cassette 1 is It is in a state where it comes up to the contact point with the separating member 10 (position T1 'in FIG. 1). The printer control circuit 28 knows this state from the fact that the motor M is not driven (step (hereinafter referred to as S) 1 is N) and that the mode is not the manual feed mode (N is S2). An alarm is displayed to notify that the manual feed operation is incorrect (S3). This display indicates that the operator is currently in the cassette paper feed mode, and that the manual feed processing of the paper P 'is incorrect.

At this time, if the page printer is set to the manual feed mode (Y in S2), the reception buffer 2
5 to determine whether or not there is data and output of the start signal (S4), drive the motor M (S5), and
(STP6) and subsequent steps are executed. Although FIG. 4 has been described as cassette sheet feeding for the sake of explanation, the processing after judgment (STP6) is the same as that in the case of manual sheet feeding.

Next, when the motor M is rotating, the paper feed roll 9 is rotated, and the leading edge of the paper P carried out of the paper cassette 1 is at the position of the turn guide 11 (period T2 in FIG. 5).
The case where the sheet P 'is manually inserted when the leading end of the sheet P is positioned between T2' shown in FIG. 1) will be described.
The printer control circuit 28 determines this state by the rotation of the motor M (S
1 is Y), cassette feeding mode (S6 is N), paper feeding clutch 9 'is on (S7 is Y), standby sensor 12 is off (S8 is N), and paper P feeds turn guide 11. Judge that it is inside. That is, at this time, the sheet P is still on the turn guide 11, and the sheet feeding clutch 9 'is immediately turned off, the rotation of the sheet feeding roll 9 is stopped, and the sheet feeding operation of the sheet P is stopped. This is a case where the sheets P can be prevented from overlapping. Therefore, the paper feed clutch 9 'is immediately turned off to stop feeding the paper P (S9). Then, the mode is changed to the manual feed mode so as to perform the printing process on the manually inserted paper P '(S10), and thereafter, the above-described determination (STP6) and subsequent steps shown in FIG. 4 are executed.

Next, when the leading end of the sheet P carried out of the sheet cassette 1 passes through the turn guide 11 and reaches the position of the standby sensor 12 (period T3 in FIG. 5, T3 'shown in FIG. 1). At the position P), the case where the sheet P 'is manually inserted will be described. As described above, the printer control circuit 28 turns on the motor M (S1 is Y), cassette feeding mode (S6 is N), the feeding clutch 9 'is on (S7 is N), and the standby sensor 12 is on. (S8 is Y). At this time, the sheet P has reached the position where it joins with the sheet P '. If the manually fed sheet P' is fed as it is, a trouble such as a sheet jam may occur, an alarm is displayed on the operation / display unit 24 (S11). Then, the manual feed of the sheet P 'is stopped. In this case, unless the manually fed paper P 'is forcibly pulled out, a trouble such as paper jam occurs.
In particular, it emits a sound such as a buzzer.

Further, for the sheet P, the cassette sheet feeding process is continued without stopping the sheet feeding operation (S12). Next, when the leading edge of the sheet P carried out of the sheet cassette 1 passes through the position of the standby sensor 12, and the sheet P is re-fed for a considerable distance by the rotation of the standby roll 13 (see FIG. 1). The case where the sheet P 'is manually inserted when the leading end of the sheet P is located at the position T4') will be described. In this state, the paper supply roll 9 has not been rotated, and the paper supply clutch 9 'has been turned off. Therefore, the printer control circuit 28 turns on the motor M (Y in S1) and sets the cassette paper supply mode ( S6 is N), the paper feed clutch 9 'is off (S7 is N), the standby sensor 12 is on (S13 is Y), and the standby clutch 13' is on (S14).
Is Y). At this time, the sheet P is at the position of the standby sensor 12, but when the sheet P 'reaches the position of the standby sensor 12 even if the sheet P' is manually inserted, the sheet P has passed through the standby sensor 12 and In order to determine whether the position is such that a trouble such as jamming does not occur, the time of the above-described passage length timer is compared with the length of time for the sheet P 'manually fed from the manual paper feed port 5 to reach the standby roll 13 (S15). ). For example, when the A4 size paper P is used and the process speed is 50 mm / S, since the length of the A4 size paper P is 297 mm, the setting time of the passage length timer is approximately 6 seconds (297/50). If the distance from the manual feed port 5 to the standby roll 13 is 150 mm, the process speed is 3 seconds from 50 mm / S. Therefore, when the standby clutch 13 'is turned on (when the standby roll 13 starts rotating), the passage length timer is started by the processing (STP13) shown in FIG. The time is compared with the time required to reach the standby roll 13 described above. Therefore, for example, if manual feeding is performed two seconds after the standby roll 13 starts rotating, the remaining time of the passage length timer is 4 seconds, and the sheet P 'is
Judgment because the time to reach 3 is longer than 3 seconds (S15)
Becomes N, and if the sheet P 'is manually inserted as it is, the sheet P which is the preceding sheet and the sheet P' which has been manually inserted overlap and the sheet is jammed. Therefore, the alarm display is performed in the same manner as described above (S1).
1). On the other hand, for example, if manual feeding is performed 4 seconds after the standby roll 13 starts rotating, the remaining time of the passage length timer is 2 seconds, and the time until the sheet P ′ reaches the standby roll 13 is 3 seconds. Since it is shorter, the judgment (S15) is Y
Becomes That is, in this case, even if the sheet P 'is manually inserted, the sheet P and the sheet P' do not overlap. At this time, the cassette sheet feeding mode is switched to the manual sheet feeding mode (S16).
After the preceding sheet P has passed through the standby sensor 12, it is confirmed that the standby roller 13 has passed, and the standby clutch 13 'is turned off to stop the rotation of the standby roller 13 (Y in S17, S18). , S19), and then standby roll 1
Then, the processing shifts to the processing of the sheet P 'fed to No. 3.

Note that, although the motor M is rotating (S1 is Y) and the cassette paper feed mode is set (S6 is N), neither the paper feed clutch 9 'nor the standby clutch 13' is turned on ( When neither the paper feed roll 9 nor the standby roll 13 is rotating), there is no problem in performing the manual paper feed. Therefore, when the manual paper P ′ is inserted, the mode is shifted to the manual paper feed mode to perform the manual paper feed ( S7 is N, S13 is N, S1
3 ').

The above description is for the case of the cassette paper feeding mode. Next, the case where the paper P 'is manually fed continuously in the manual feeding mode will be described. FIG. 7 is a time chart for explaining the operation in the manual feed mode.
A period T1 "shown in FIG. 6 indicates a period in which the manually fed paper P 'has not reached the manual paper sensor 6, and a period T2".
Indicates a period during which the manually inserted paper P 'is visible on the manual paper feed table 4, and a period T3 "indicates a period during which the manually inserted paper P' is not visible on the manual paper feed table 4. That is, the manual paper feed roll Since the paper 7 is directly connected to the motor M, the paper P 'is manually fed and detected by the manual paper sensor 6, and when a start signal is output thereafter, the motor M is driven to immediately feed the paper P' into the apparatus. After that, the output timing of the FD ready signal and the restart signal after the sheet P 'has passed through the manual feed guide plate 8 and detected by the standby sensor 12 is the same as the processing shown in FIG. 4 (STP6 and thereafter). However, regarding the time for manually feeding the next sheet P 'shown in FIG. 7, since the sheet P' that was manually inserted previously can be seen during the periods T1 "and T2", it is not conceivable that the sheet P 'will be further hand-operated. Practically period T1 There is no problem for "T2". Therefore, a description will be given of the period T3 "during which the sheet P 'from which the sheet P' has been manually inserted is no longer visible from the manual sheet feeding table 4.

Although the preceding paper P 'is being printed,
When the sheet has not yet been ejected outside the machine, a new sheet P '
When the printer control circuit 28 detects that the paper P 'has been manually inserted, the rotation of the motor M and the manual insertion mode are checked (Y in S1 and Y in S6), and
Based on the start signal output from U20, the process shifts to the determination (STP6) shown in FIG. 4 to execute a normal printing process. When the start signal has not been output yet (N in S20), the printer control circuit 28 executes the above-described CS command.
It is checked whether there is print information in the reception buffer 25 based on the TATUS data. If there is print information, the output of the start signal is waited (Y in S21). When the start signal is output (Y in S22), The process proceeds to the same determination (STP6), and normal printing processing is performed.

On the other hand, when there is no print information in the receiving buffer 25, since the insertion of the manual paper P 'is an erroneous operation, an alarm is displayed (N in S21, S23), and an instruction is given to pull out the paper P'. Here, if the sheet P 'is not pulled out despite the alarm display, the sheet P' reaches the standby sensor 12 (Y in S24). At this time, the sheet P 'is pulled out for a predetermined time. If the sheet P' is not pulled out after a predetermined time, and new print information is not input to the reception buffer 25, the standby clutch 13 'is turned on and the sheet P' is turned on. Forcible discharge is performed without performing printing (N in S25, Y in S26, S27). During this time, when new print information is input to the reception buffer 25 (Y in S25), the process waits for a start signal (Y in S28), and executes the above-described processing (STP9) shown in FIG.

It should be noted that, even after a lapse of a predetermined time after the above-mentioned alarm display (S23), the manually fed paper P 'is not detected by the standby sensor 6.
Is not turned on (Y in S29), it is determined that the sheet P 'has been pulled out by the operator, and the process returns to the above-described determination (STP1) in FIG.

By performing the processing as described above, paper jam can be reliably prevented even if the manual paper P 'is erroneously fed in the cassette paper feed mode or the manual paper feed mode.

[0038]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, in a page printer having a manual paper feed mechanism, even if a manual paper is erroneously fed while paper is being fed from a paper feed cassette. Troubles such as interruption of print processing can be prevented beforehand without clogging.

Further, it is not necessary to provide a manual sheet shielding member such as a shutter on the manual sheet feeding table, so that the cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a page printer device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of the page printer according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of creating print data of an interface controller.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a sheet feeding operation of the page printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a time chart for explaining a sheet feeding operation of the page printer of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a sheet feeding operation after detecting a manually fed sheet P ′.

FIG. 7 is a time chart for explaining a paper feeding operation of manual paper.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 paper feed cassette 2 cassette paper feed mechanism 3 manual paper feed mechanism 4 manual paper feed tray 5 manual paper feed port 6 manual paper sensor 7 manual paper feed roll 9 paper feed roll 9 ′ paper feed clutch 11 turn guide 12 standby sensor 13 standby Roll 13 'Standby clutch 15 Transfer unit 20 CPU 23 DMA controller 24 Operation / display unit 25 Receive buffer 27 Frame memory 28 Printer control circuit 29 Optical writing head M Motor

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An image data generating section for generating image data based on print information supplied from a host device, and an image forming section for performing image forming processing in accordance with image data output from the image data generating section. Wherein the image forming unit is a page printer having a manual sheet feeding mechanism, wherein the image data generating unit receives an input from the host device;
The reception and the reception buffer for temporarily storing storing print information, the print information to the reception buffer is stored the
A reception signal outputting means for outputting a signal, the image forming when the image data of a predetermined amount to create an image data from the print information of the reception buffer memory is stored in the memory
Start indicating that the image data is ready to be transferred to the unit
A start signal output unit that outputs a signal , wherein the image forming unit is configured to output the fed sheet at least outside the machine.
Drive motor that keeps running until it is discharged, and intermittent drive power
The driving force from the drive motor is directly transmitted without
Manual paper feeding means, manual paper detecting means for detecting insertion of manual paper, and image formation of paper conveyance.
Waiting hand to pause to synchronize with the image carrier
If and a stage, when the manual feed paper detecting means detects the manual paper feed, there is an output of the received signal or start signal, the drive
While maintaining the motor in the operating state, the standby means is operated.
Perform image forming processing while operating, if there is no output of the received signal and the start signal,
If the drive motor is running, the paper is
It is stopped, and if the same state continues for a predetermined
The standby paper is dynamically discharged, and the drive motor is not operating.
A page printer device, which displays a warning indicating that manual paper has been removed . 2. A manual feeder for feeding a manual feed sheet to an image transfer unit.
Image transfer of paper stored in paper feed path and cassette
And a cassette paper feed path for conveying the sheet to the
In the page printer device where the paths join upstream of the image transfer unit, the operation state is maintained until the fed sheet inside the apparatus is discharged outside the apparatus.
A manual paper feeding means for feeding the manual paper interlocked with a driving source, a manual paper detection means for detecting insertion of the manual paper , and a manual paper feeding means when the manual paper detection means detects the manual paper. When the paper is fed as it is, the confluence of both transport paths
Passing carried out of the cassette feeding mechanism downstream than
A judgment unit for judging whether or not the sheet overlaps the past sheet; and a sheet control unit for feeding a manual feed sheet as it is when the judgment unit predicts the overlap of both sheets, and displaying a warning when the judgment is not made. A page printer device characterized by the above-mentioned.